LIFE AND DEATH, 



PREFACE. 



The following paper was first printed as an academic lecture 

 in the summer of the present year (1883), with the title ' Upon 

 the Eternal Duration of Life ' ('tjberdie Ewigkeitdes Lebens'). 

 In now bringing it before a larger public in an expanded and 

 improved form, I have chosen a title which seemed to me to 

 correspond better with the present contents of the paper. 



The stimulus which led to this biological investigation was 

 given in a memoir by Gotte, in which this author opposes views 

 which I had previously expressed. Although such an origin 

 has naturally caused my paper to take the form of a reply, my 

 intention was not merely to controvert the views of my op- 

 ponent, but rather— using those opposed views as. a starting- 

 point— to throw new light upon certain questions which demand 

 consideration ; to give additional support to thoughts which I 

 have previously expressed, and to penetrate, if possible, more 

 deeply into the problem of life and death. 



If, in making this attempt, the views of my opponent have 

 been severely criticized, it will be acknowledged that the criti- 

 cisms do not form the purpose of my paper, but only the means 

 by which the way to a more correct understanding of the 

 problems before us may be indicated. 



A. W. 



Freiburg i. Breisgau, 

 Oct. 18, 1883. 



